Irish authorities have launched an investigation after a Zimbabwean national newspaper reported a man wanted for the murder of three people in the African nation is living in Ireland having claimed asylum under a false name.
The Sunday Mail newspaper reported that businessman Peter Dube had been put on Interpol’s most wanted list after Zimbabwean authorities claimed the 37-year-old man — who is wanted for a triple murder in 2021 and also a separate attempted murder charge — fled the country to southern Africa and changed his name before traveling to Ireland where he claimed asylum.
“Ongoing investigations confirm that he disappeared and left the country,” said police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi.
The police investigation followed Dube to Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland, where he began living under the false name of Xolile Mtsali.
“He then relocated to Ireland, where he sought asylum,” added Nyathi, who confirmed the Zimbabwe authorities were determined to bring the mass murder suspect back to the country to face justice.
The alleged crimes pertain to a single attack in April 2021 in Dube’s home city of Gweru in central Zimbabwe.
Dube, a second-hand car salesman, allegedly confronted his wife, Nyasha Nharingo, and her suspected lover outside an apartment in the city before fatally shooting the lover, Shelton Chinhango. He then shot his wife’s best friend, Gamuchirai Mudungwe, in the chest who died instantly before shooting Nyasha herself and her sister, Nyaradzo.
Nyasha managed to survive the attack; however, her sister was later pronounced dead in the hospital.
According to Zimbabwean authorities, shortly after arriving in Dublin, Dube helped another wife, Nomatter Chawana, follow him to the country with his children under a new identity.
They claim the family is now living as asylum seekers at the Red Cow Moran Hotel in the Republic of Ireland’s capital.
According to an Irish Mirror report on Thursday, Irish authorities are conducting an investigation into the intelligence provided by the African nation.
A source told the paper: “We are happy he is not at the facility named in the media and we have found zero evidence that he is here at all. Inquiries are continuing, but at this stage there is nothing to suggest he is in Ireland.
It added that the Interpol Red Notice that Dube is subject to “does not confer any powers of arrest. All we can do if we find him here is notify authorities in Zimbabwe and then it will be up to them to ask Ireland to arrest him and send him back.”
The investigation is ongoing.
